Drunken mum Jeanette Hopper left her false teeth embedded in a police sergeant's hand after she bit him while he was arresting her, a court has heard

Drunken mum Jeanette Hopper left her false teeth embedded in a police sergeant's hand after she bit him while he was arresting her, a court has heard.

Police had been called to the 50-year-old’s home in Highfield Road, Ruardean, after reports that she was wielding a knife and making threats to her 67 year old husband, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

When Sergeant Miles Ajinka arrived at 11pm on May 26 he saw “'an appreciable amount of blood” around her home and Hopper then appeared with dry blood on her hands.

“It was clear to the sergeant that the family in the house were in fear,” said prosecutor Richard Posner. “The sergeant decided to arrest her. Her reaction was to struggle and she then bit the sergeant on the hand.

“She sunk her teeth into the ring finger of the officer's right hand. He slapped the back of her head to seek release from the bite

“As she moved her head away the false teeth she was wearing stayed embedded in his finger.

“Other officers attended and she was controlled and take into custody.

“When she was interviewed she said she had only a hazy recollection. She said the biting had been a kneejerk reaction to the handcuffs being placed on her wrist. She'd had a fracture of the wrist and it was painful.”

Hopper pleaded guilty to common assault on the sergeant but denied an offence of affray. Her pleas were accepted by the prosecution.

She had made 11 previous court appearances for 23 offences, mainly of dishonesty or drink driving, the prosecutor said.

Steve Thomas, defending, said “The police had been called there on a number of occasions in the past, usually because she has taken a knife to herself.

“Usually the police go along with an ambulance. Unfortunately this sergeant had not met her before and he faced a completely different situation.

“She tried to protect her wrist because it was painful.”

Recorder Nicholas Atkinson QC sentenced her to 12 months supervision.

He said it was envisaged she would receive help with her drinking from the Independence Trust and he told her he hoped her good relationship with her children would assist her in the future. She told the Recorder she and her husband had separated since the incident.